Darkness. It was the only thing Izuku Yagi had ever known.
Where did it all go wrong you ask?
At the age of four.
In a hospital.
In a room.
With a single word.
Q̵̺͕̱̯͔̭̰̀u̸̢͚̪͈̍̐ỉ̴̡̢͇̤̥̬̖̼͙̾̃̈́͗̀ṟ̴̝͊̀k̷̨̬̭̘̦͒̚l̶̜̫̫͕̎̌̎̀̆͌̚̕͝͝e̶̡͈͑̃̌̂̽͆̒̂̕s̶̢̭͖̯͍̮͓̻̭̓͑̓͜s̴̨̝͖̟̝͕̎̋͋̀̂̎̚
That day was still clear in his mind. The look of sadness on his twin sister's face. The gaze of slight disappointment in his mother's eyes. At first he wanted to comfort them. He wanted to assure them but…
"Izuku please just get in the car..." Inko said stiffly with a smile.
His eyes widened at her words and her tone as he got in without a word. The drive home was even worse as they both hadn't said anything. Izumi was looking outside with a weird look being expressed. He wasn't sure if it was sadness or tiredness. His mother was driving quietly. This was not what they were like just a few hours ago before the testing.
The feeling of discomfort came.
He kept his mouth shut after that
Home wasn't any better. In fact, it was worsening that feeling of discomfort.
The late afternoon sun streamed through the living room windows, casting long golden beams across the polished wood floor. The Yagi household was unusually quiet, tension humming beneath the surface like the still air before a thunderstorm.
His mother stood by the kitchen counter, her emerald hair loosely tied back, arms crossed as she watched her two children fidget nervously in the center of the room. Izuku and Izumi, only four years old, stood side by side, the perfect mirror of one another—same green eyes, same wild curls, but today, only one of them smiled.
Toshinori looked up from the couch, the usual glint of pride in his eyes faltering as he noticed the expression on his son's face.
"Well?" he asked gently, voice warm and hopeful.
Izumi practically bounced in place, her tiny fists clenched in excitement. "I can make things float, Papa! Like Mama! The doctor said it's a kind of psychic telekinetic quirk!"
Toshinori's lips curved into a proud grin. "That's amazing, Izumi!"
But his eyes drifted to Izuku, who stood still, staring down at the floor, shoulders tense.
Inko's expression shifted, her smile fading.
"Izuku," Toshinori said, his voice softer now, "what about you?"
Izuku's bottom lip quivered, and he shook his head. "They said...I don't have one." His voice was barely above a whisper. "No quirk..."
The room fell silent.
Inko knelt beside them, placing a hand on each of their backs. "Sweethearts, why don't you two go upstairs for a bit? Izumi, maybe show your brother how your quirk works?"
Izumi looked between her mother and father, then at her twin, her joy dimming as she saw the down trodden look in his eyes. She took his hand quietly and led him up the stairs, glancing back only once.
When their footsteps faded, Inko turned toward her husband.
"He's quirkless, Toshi," she said quietly. Her voice cracked, her calm demeanor slipping for the first time. "They confirmed it with the scans. No extra joint, no mutation markers. Nothing."
Toshinori leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped tightly. His smile was long gone, replaced by a hollow look that aged him a decade in seconds.
"He...always looked up to us," he said, voice raw. "To you, to me...He wanted to be like us. A hero," he spoke referring to their alternate persona's — All Might and Viridian Storm.
"I know." Inko's voice was a whisper now. "And we—maybe we made him believe he could be. That he could be just like…us."
Toshinori closed his eyes. "He still can be. Somehow...he can choose to be."
Silence hung between them again.
Upstairs in izumi's room, Izuku pondered quietly, curled beside his sister, his tiny hands clenched in his shirt, a single, painful question looping through his mind as he voiced it aloud subconsciously.
"Even if I have no quirk... can't I still be a hero?"
"Izuku..." she murmured. "You don't need a quirk to be a hero."
He didn't look up. "That's easy for you to say..."
She hesitated. "I know. I'm sorry."
The silence was heavy between them for a few seconds, broken only by the muffled voices of their parents downstairs.
Izumi then looked down seeing a little mark poking out under Izuku's shirt and pointed at it,"Izuku...what's that?" she asked curious.
Izuku looked down and pulled his shirt to the side slightly to see the full mark. It was two angular, inward-facing prongs or spikes that arc toward each other. These were joined with a central vertical line or spike, giving the symbol a trident-like or rune-inspired appearance and looked like it was ingrained into his skin. He looked confused.
"I'm...not sure..." he said confused.
Izumi gasped. "Is that a tattoo?!"
"Nuh-uh!" Izuku said quickly, his eyes wide. "I didn't draw that! I don't even like markers on my skin!"
Izumi poked it gently. "It's not coming off..."
They both sat there in silence, the rain still tapping gently outside. The cartoon characters on the screen laughed and shouted, but neither of them noticed anymore.
"Maybe..." Izumi whispered, "...it's a birthmark?"
Izuku frowned, tiny brows furrowing. "Do birthmarks look scary?"
She shook her head slowly. "No... they don't feel scary."
Izuku hugged his knees, feeling a strange heaviness in his chest, not bad... but weird. Like something old was sleeping inside him.
"Izumi," he said quietly, "Do you think it means something?"
She looked at him seriously, then grabbed his hand with her tiny fingers. "Even if it does... I'm not scared."
He smiled, just a little. "Okay."
Izuku blinked but looked down again but to the floor saddened as if the world's weight pressed down on him. "Izumi... what if I... never get a quirk?"
Then she reached over and grabbed his hand again, tighter this time. "Let's make a promise," she said, her voice firmer.
He finally looked at her.
"No matter what happens," she said, holding out her pinky, "we're going to be heroes. Together."
"Then I'll be your strength until you find your own," she said. "Okay?"
He stared at her pinky. Then, slowly, he reached out and linked his with hers.
"Okay. Together."
Their pinkies curled, the promise sealed as they both smiled at eachother.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣.
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣.
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RAAH. First chapter ever on webnovel. A little shorter than I expected but I'll try make the next chapters longer. Please give me your thoughts. I see people talking about power crystals in other stories but I don't know what that does. If that's the case uhh do what you guys wish I don't mind.
I accept any criticism on my writing and please do flame me for anything. I do wish to be better.
With that being said take care everyone :)